If you want to give a great presentation, hold the attention of your audience, and keep everything short and sweet then read on.
I attended a large conference during which an hour was set aside for lightning presentations – a term I had never heard before. The program indicated that there would be six presentations given in an hour, with five minutes of questions for each. I was skeptical, but stayed to listen. I came away impressed.
The dead simple format was explained to the audience at the start.
- Each presenter had twenty slides, including title slide.
- A computer displayed slides 15-seconds apart. After 5 minutes the audio would be cut and the screen would go dark.
- The presenter had no control over the slides.
Of the six presentations none flopped and three were especially good. These three things made the good presentations shine.
- The first slide stated one message – theme or takeaway – for the presentation.
- Slides used simple visuals and few words if any (fewer than 30 words in all appearing in the 20-slide decks).
- Each slide – and the visuals used – made one point – a fact, a learning, an example that reinforced the message.
- The last slide concluded with the same one message introduced at the front end.
Try it. It takes a lot of work to get it right. Yet, when you do get it right, you’ll be a better presenter.
